Shami Breaks Silence On Reports Claiming Pacer Is Out Of India-Aus Series

Mohammed Shami in a post on X on Wednesday refuted reports claiming he is doubtful for Indian cricket team's Tour of Australia. Shami has been out of action due to an ankle injury. After giving a memorable performance in the ODI World Cup 2023, Shami underwent a surgery for his injury and has been recovering from it since then. It was expected that the star pacer will returning to the national duty for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in November this year. 

A report in Times of India quoted a BCCI source as saying: "Shami had resumed bowling, and he was looking on track to make a comeback to competitive cricket soon. But this knee injury has flared up recently. BCCI's medical team is assessing the injury, but it may require quite a bit of time.

"It's a jolt for the NCA medical team. They have been working on him for over a year. They have one of the best workload management systems in place. The medical team is trying its best to put him back in the park soon."

However, Shami has refuted reports claiming that he is out of the Border-Gavaskar Series (name of Australia vs India bilateral series)

"Why these type of baseless rumors? I'm working hard and trying my level best to recover.  Neither the BCCI nor me have mentioned that I am out of the Border Gavaskar series. I request the public to stop paying attention to such news from unofficial sources. Please stop and don't spread such fake fake fake & fake news, especially without my statement. #fakenews#stoprumors#rehab," Mohammed Shami wrote on X. 

Earlier in September, Shami had revealed that he is putting his best efforts to return to the field for Team India at the earliest.

"Koshish jaldi hi kar raha hoon kyun ke main janta hoon kaafi time ho gaya hai team se bahar rehte hue (I am working hard to make a comeback soon because I know I have been out of action for quite some time). However, I want to ensure there is no discomfort when I return. I've to work on my fitness, so that there is no discomfort," Shami had said.

"The stronger I return, the better it is for me. I don't want to rush and risk getting injured again, be it against Bangladesh, New Zealand or the Australia series. I've already started bowling, but I won't take any chances until I am 100% fit," he added.